My God....that plant stinks up the whole city!! OKC, Edmond and probably even Norman is getting a dose.

I can't believe it but there are plenty of times I'm down around 63rd and May and I can smell that plant!!!

YUK!! I hate the smell of dog food and that company is making me not want to ever move back to Edmond.

My God....that plant stinks up the whole city!! OKC, Edmond and probably even Norman is getting a dose.

I can't believe it but there are plenty of times I'm down around 63rd and May and I can smell that plant!!!

YUK!! I hate the smell of dog food and that company is making me not want to ever move back to Edmond.

You must have one hell of a honker. I drive by that plant on occasion and can't smell it. Nor can I smell it from either SW 63 and May or NW 63 and May (this city has both and you didn't specify which one), and my office is near NW 63 and May.

The plant is fine where it is.

LOL, no, we don't notice it down in Norman. When we get the funk, it's coming from the south side of Norman, but even that rarely floats up past Boyd.

Can't say I've ever noticed the OKC facility at 63rd and May area in the past. From 96-06, I used to end up in that area several times a month, various times of the week.
Maybe it got worse after 06? Once my activity level in Scouting changed, phone and email were more expedient than face time.

I never smell it unless I'm within a half mile of it.

Then move if you don't like it. It was there long, long ago and it provides jobs. I grew up where I could smell packing town and lived through it.....(moo)

Maybe you have an extra sensitive nose? It really does provide jobs and has been there a long time. I hadn't heard anyone complain about it all that much but maybe I just haven't been around people who live near it. I always enjoy seeing the checkerboard.

Hey, we're on the Great Plains. We have cows and pigs and there are smells in the air. Its like people who move near an airport and then complain about jet noise. Try living northwest of DFW airport and avoid smelling jet fuel on a calm summer night.

You must have one hell of a honker. I drive by that plant on occasion and can't smell it. Nor can I smell it from either SW 63 and May or NW 63 and May (this city has both and you didn't specify which one), and my office is near NW 63 and May.

haha...so right...I meant NW 63rd & May.

Also I don't have a great honker, in fact, it's quite bad. I notice it when there is low or no wind. Most people don't notice the smell until I mention, "Do you smell dog food?" Then they usually do smell it.....so perhaps you're like them and just busy and not really paying attention.

LOL, no, we don't notice it down in Norman. When we get the funk, it's coming from the south side of Norman, but even that rarely floats up past Boyd.

Can't say I've ever noticed the OKC facility at 63rd and May area in the past. From 96-06, I used to end up in that area several times a month, various times of the week.
Maybe it got worse after 06? Once my activity level in Scouting changed, phone and email were more expedient than face time.
Well I should say that I don't normally smell it at NW 63rd and May but I have before.

When I was going to UCO from '03 to '07, I would smell it often and it was a VERY pungent smell. Not subtle or slight at all. It was easy to notice and pretty much covered the campus.

yeah...thats smart...lets get rid of something that contributes to the economy.

You have nasal problems. I've lived about a 1 1/2 north of the plant for over 10 years and it has never bothered me. In fact, the only times I notice it seem to be early in the morning or in the evening...and even then it is only when there is a south wind...I rather think my dog likes it though :-P

Maybe you have an extra sensitive nose?
It's possible but I don't think so. I usually can't smell anything.

I think it might have to do more with me not liking the smell of dog food. I mean it's not like it makes me gag but it's pretty obnoxious.


It really does provide jobs and has been there a long time. I hadn't heard anyone complain about it all that much but maybe I just haven't been around people who live near it. I always enjoy seeing the checkerboard.
I've lived here my whole life and the vast majority of it has been in NW OKC and/or Edmond and I can't remember when the plant was ever so offensive as it has been over the last 10 years or so. In fact, I didn't even notice it but on rare occasions. Now it seems like anytime the wind is low....I smell it.


Ok...so perhaps "It has to go" was a bit harsh because jobs are good and I don't want anyone to lose their job. But man....something should be done to contain the smell.

I can't believe I'm the only one that thinks it stinks.

I live north of there as well and can smell it when there are strong winds from the south. My dogs LOVE it when the wind's blowing from that direction... it's quite a sight to see all four dogs pointing south with their noses high in the air soaking it up.

The smell has never bothered me in the 10+ years we've lived in Edmond. There are certainly much worse smells to deal with... like driving on north Portland/SH 74 passing by the Deer Creek treatment facility... there are days that it's strong enough to make you wanna puke!

Then move if you don't like it. It was there long, long ago and it provides jobs. I grew up where I could smell packing town and lived through it.....(moo)

Since I have never smelled the Purina Plant, Mug, I'm wondering if it is anywhere NEAR as bad as rendering day at the stockyards used to be. Even then, some days were worse than others, wind direction aside. I sure don't miss it. BTW I used to try to figure out a way to describe that stink to those who never had the pleasure. It wasn't easy to do. :)

Could be worse, anyone ever been to Greeley, Co?

Oh I'm with you. I don't think it should go, but that smell is HORRID. I have to cover my face to go check the mail on some days. Especially when it rains in the summer. GAWD. It's terrible. I wish they could replace the ingredients or find some way to contain it. I wonder if the workers have it embedded in their pores.

The stockyards used to be real bad in the early 60's. Had a friends dad say that it was a funny way to advertise.

We can sometimes smell it at our house, especially in the mornings. We are several miles northeast of the plant. It took us a while to realize what it was we were smelling when we first moved here. I guess it depends on the wind direction.

could be worse - could have a pig farm next door...

OK, if you're saying you can smell the dog food plant at NW 63rd and May that means the wind has to be out of the northeast. Now, I am sure it happens once in a blue moon, but in Oklahoma City, having a NE wind is pretty rare. Are you sure you aren't smelling something from a restaurant or the Petsmart at that corner?

UCO is a whole different story. It's northeast of the plant so I am sure those south and southwesterly winds bring the dog food smell in pretty often. Otherwise, its a case of the plant being in an industrial area, it was there long before the Edmond development and it employs people, it fuels our economy and it generates tax revenue.

I grew up in a town with a cookie factory. When the first cool north wind of the fall would breeze through, or on an early spring day with the same breeze, the whole town smelled like cookies.

Sure, you think that would be nice. But after a day or two, you really never wanted to eat cookies ever again. :P Sad that it closed. A lot of people in that town lost jobs when that happened.

ETA: I have a very sensitive nose and the only time the Purina plant ever bothered me (and I was at UCO for 5 years and am now a grad student there) is when I drive directly by it. I just put the air in my car on recycle instead of fresh. I've never noticed it on campus. But, maybe I just got used to it.

Now, in Stillwater, those pig farms are seriously noticeable...

I love driving broadway extension over 23rd street - there is a bakery there and especially early in the morning you can smell the bread!

It seems like it can be smelled early in the morning more than anything else. It's sometimes noticeable but not as bad as driving next to the stockyards or the city dump.

Am I remembering correctly that there used to be a coffee plant near the Purina plant? For some reason I am thinking that a coffee smell used to better camouflage the dog food smell.

Okay enough thoughts of bad smells. I'm just going to think about the bread plant down on Robinson for a while now.

Hah, funny hipster I was just thinking about that.

It seems like it can be smelled early in the morning more than anything else. It's sometimes noticeable but not as bad as driving next to the stockyards or the city dump.

Am I remembering correctly that there used to be a coffee plant near the Purina plant? For some reason I am thinking that a coffee smell used to better camouflage the dog food smell.

Okay enough thoughts of bad smells. I'm just going to think about the bread plant down on Robinson for a while now.

Cain's Coffee used to be around 63rd. In fact, I THINK it was the original owner of what became William E Davis and Sons, which, I THINK is something else now.

Mmm that bread bakery over by Byron's does smell good.

My God....that plant stinks up the whole city!! OKC, Edmond and probably even Norman is getting a dose.

I can't believe it but there are plenty of times I'm down around 63rd and May and I can smell that plant!!!

YUK!! I hate the smell of dog food and that company is making me not want to ever move back to Edmond.

That smell is nothing compared to the smell from a crematorium. When I was in the military stationed in Okinawa our base dorm was located down wind from one. In Japan, they do not require the filters that are used on most creamatoriums around the United States.

It was the most horrid smell you could ever imagine. Our air conditioner failed one night when they had the creamatorium in operation. It was so hot and humid you had to keep the windows open to keep the rooms remotely cool. I had to place one of those Stick Up hockey puck air fresheners under my nose just so I could go to sleep.

That smell is nothing compared to the smell from a crematorium. When I was in the military stationed in Okinawa our base dorm was located down wind from one. In Japan, they do not require the filters that are used on most creamatoriums around the United States.

It was the most horrid smell you could ever imagine. Our air conditioner failed one night when they had the creamatorium in operation. It was so hot and humid you had to keep the windows open to keep the rooms remotely cool. I had to place one of those Stick Up hockey puck air fresheners under my nose just so I could go to sleep.


I spent one year living across the road from a creamatorium in Indianapolis. It was the WORST experience in my life. The smell of dog food is a joy compared to that.

It was there long, long ago and it provides jobs. I grew up where I could smell packing town and lived through it.....(moo)

It's been there at least since the late 60s. I went to school at Oklahoma Christian University at Memorial and Eastern, about a mile east of the Purina plant, from '71 to '75, and I remember the dog chow aroma whenever the wind was out of the west.

And growing up around Shepherd Mall, I remember the fragrance wafting from the Stockyards when the wind was out of the south/southwest.

"Good times, Probie; good times."

Cain's Coffee used to be around 63rd. In fact, I THINK it was the original owner of what became William E Davis and Sons, which, I THINK is something else now.
Cain's was on the West Service Road of Broadway Extension just south of Memorial, pretty close to the Purina plant. Sara Lee closed it in 2003 moving production to Houston.

Here's an Journal Record article about the closure with some history about Cain's.
bnet.com - Sara Lee to close OKC Cain's Coffee plant (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4182/is_20030417/ai_n10158096/)

The most fragrant bread plant that I remember was the Mrs. Baird's at Central Expressway and Mockingbird Lane in Dallas, it was right on the corner and you could smell it driving by on Central Expressway. Grupo Industrial Bimbo closed it in 2002.

That smell is nothing compared to the smell from a crematorium. When I was in the military stationed in Okinawa our base dorm was located down wind from one. In Japan, they do not require the filters that are used on most creamatoriums around the United States.

It was the most horrid smell you could ever imagine. Our air conditioner failed one night when they had the creamatorium in operation. It was so hot and humid you had to keep the windows open to keep the rooms remotely cool. I had to place one of those Stick Up hockey puck air fresheners under my nose just so I could go to sleep.

Okay, you win the prize. EEEWWWW.

A lot of people are employed there.. it shouldn't go.

For those that have jobs there, it's the smell of money.

Knew a hairstylist that had her salon in her house that you could only enter by an exterior door. Her son always complained about the smell when someone had a body wave done. The last time he whined about the smell, she pointed to the tennis shoes he "had to have" and said that smell bought those shoes. He never complained again after that.

For those that have jobs there, it's the smell of money.

Knew a hairstylist that had her salon in her house that you could only enter by an exterior door. Her son always complained about the smell when someone had a body wave done. The last time he whined about the smell, she pointed to the tennis shoes he "had to have" and said that smell bought those shoes. He never complained again after that.
That smell hasn't bought me any tennis shoes....where are my SHOES!! lol

And yeah, it could be worse....pig farms, stockyard city...yeah, there are worse smells. But come on, dog food stinks and when it's calm, it stinks up the whole damn city....both of them. :chef:

But come on, dog food stinks and when it's calm, it stinks up the whole damn city....both of them. :chef:

So what? You would rather sacrifice a whole bunch of people's jobs just for your nose?

I'm incredibly sensitive to smells and I can think of a lot more offensive smells than the Purina plant.

It's been there a long, long time, anyone moving in the vicinity of should know the possibility of odors. I lived at 33rd & Santa Fe, Danforth & Fretz and 122nd & Penn and worked at Britton & Broadway for 11 years and between 63rd & Wilshire on Broadway for three years for and didn't smell it. That was before I had allergies and could actually smell odors. The only time that I have smelled it was when I was within a mile of the plant and the wind was fairly strong.

I live just east of UCO off 2nd and I have never smelled it.

Over the years, I've had a few whiffs of the dog food, but maybe 5 times. I've ridden my bike on the river trails near the stockyards and the smell almost knocked me over.

Over the years, I've had a few whiffs of the dog food, but maybe 5 times. I've ridden my bike on the river trails near the stockyards and the smell almost knocked me over.

It used to hit you on the crosstown like a sledgehammer, at times. I nearly ran off the road. "Make it stop!!"

Oh, yeah! The childhood memories that come back growing up within nose shot of the stockyards. Smelling that and hearing the stock cars at the fairgrounds on Friday nights. That really is instant memories.

It used to hit you on the crosstown like a sledgehammer, at times. I nearly ran off the road. "Make it stop!!"

It could be worse. Just think of the romantic odor of the sewage treatment plant around NE 10 and I-35, and combine that with the sounds of the AK-47's in the middle of the night. You could smell that thing with all the windows up and traveling at 70 miles per hour, with a slow speed wind.

Maybe it's just me, but I think it smells good. Nothing like the smell of hot kibbles and bits.

Imagine having to pick my grandfather up from work at Wilson's foods everyday. That was the source of the cross town smell!!

Imagine having to pick my grandfather up from work at Wilson's foods everyday. That was the source of the cross town smell!!

Your grandfather smelled bad?

Anyone smell it this morning? Boy I did. It's so much worse when there's no wind.

No Jethrol, no I didn't..I live less than 2 miles from Purina and didn't smell it at all. I'd think it would be worse if there was wind...unless you live right under it.

I did.

One question to you people who don't like businesses near your homes. Where would you locate Purina? Think about it. No matter where it is, people like you would find something to complain about.

Dog food doesn't smell bad at all compared to the feed lots off of I-40 near Amarillo. Those people I feel sorry for.

Or the pig farms in Iowa.

Imagine having to pick my grandfather up from work at Wilson's foods everyday. That was the source of the cross town smell!!

Anyone within 5 miles north or south of Wilson's, depending on whether it was winter or summer, when they were rendering lard had a really bad day.

When the Purina mill was built there were very few houses/neighborhoods for miles, maybe the houses need to go.

This reminds me of a situation my sister and her family are in, they just bought a new house just S. of SW 119th and Meridian, and all they have done since moving in is complain about noise from he airport which is about 1 1/2 to the North. DUH

No Jethrol, no I didn't..I live less than 2 miles from Purina and didn't smell it at all. I'd think it would be worse if there was wind...unless you live right under it.
No see what happens is the smell just goes out and hangs around all day. With wind, it sweeps the smell in the direction of the wind. Without wind, it's more like a fog that just blankets the area.

Dog food doesn't smell bad at all compared to the feed lots off of I-40 near Amarillo. Those people I feel sorry for.

^^^^ WOW,No kidding that is unbearable from The highway,just imagine living nearby!whew!!!!!!!

I never said I thought it needed to go, I've just said that I can smell it at my house, and I don't care for the smell. I live probably 4-5 miles away (near Coltrane and Covell) from it and I can smell it sometimes. When we transferred here, we knew it was in the town, we just never dreamed we would be able to smell it all the way across town where we bought.

I agree with the others - if you don't like it, you need to move. I smelled it this morning when I got up...big deal - dog food doesn't smell that terrible...it isn't like it smells that way outside all the time. That plant brings jobs locally - the houses were built after the plant. Sorry but you won't win on this one.

Could be worse, anyone ever been to Greeley, Co?


Or Dodge City, KS

Or Dodge City, KS

Or the New Jersey Turnpike just outside of NYC (back in the 70's)?

I remember in the 80s and 90s when Purina used to make kids cereal, but under the name of "Ralston", so that parents buying the cereal for their kids would never think to associate the name Ralston with Purina.

I think they made some Nintendo-licensed cereals like Mario, Zelda, and Donkey Kong. Pretty tasty cereals from what I recall, but to think back to the thought that they more than likely used the same mechanical conveyor belt line to make both pet food and the kids cereal is kind of a scary thought.

The complaints about the smell of the Purina plant reminds me of the folks bitching about the train whistles downtown OKC. You buy a house apparently without checking the negatives and the rest of us have to jump through hoops to make it right for you to live where you choose.

The plant smells like money, please support your Oklahoma made products.